Croton chapelieri

Shrubs or trees to 10 m tall, with bifurcating branching. Branches ± flattened on new growth but becoming terete with age, gray, usually sparsely covered with brown stellate-lepidote indumentum (hairs sometimes with a porrect central radius, resulting in the young shoot being villous). Stipules absent or vestigial. Leaves alternate along stem, but (sub) opposite and ± whorled towards the apex. Petioles 4 - 40 (60) mm long, adaxially canaliculate, sparsely brown stellate-lepidote (sometimes villous), usually with a pair of ± stipitate (0.1 - 1 mm) concave discoid glands 0.5 - 1.0 mm in diam. at the base of the blade. Leaf blades coriaceous, slightly revolute, entire or serrate towards the apex, elliptic to obovate or occasionally lance-obovate, 2.8 - 15.5 × 1.5 - 6.5 cm, apex (acuminate) apiculate or acute to rounded, base cuneate or rounded; adaxial surface glabrous, glossy, bright green with a pale green or reddish midrib when fresh, turning orange in old leaves, drying ± glossy, brown or olive green; venation usually readily seen, with 3 - 11 pairs of brochidodromous, ± penninerved secondary veins; abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely brown stellate-lepidote (in particular along the midrib), pale green; venation and midrib ± prominent. Inflorescences short racemes 1.0 - 4.0 (- 7.5) cm long, terminal, bisexual, the staminate flowers towards the distal end and more numerous than the 1 - 6 (8) pistillate flowers at the base, generally divergent; axes stellate-lepidote (sometimes villous), flattened; bracts narrowly triangular, 1 - 5 mm long. Staminate flowers with brown stellatelepidote (sometimes villous), subglobose buds 1 - 2 mm diam., pedicels elongating from bud to anthesis, 1 - 6 mm long; sepals 5, pale green, shortly connate at base, lobes broadly triangularovate, 2.0 - 2.5 × 1.0 - 1.5 mm, apex acute, inflexed at anthesis, abaxially stellate-lepidote, adaxially pilose, margins densely ciliate; petals 5, white, elliptic-spatulate, c. 2.5 × 0.8 mm, recurved at anthesis, abaxially stellate-lepidote and papillate, adaxially pilose, margins densely ciliate; disc glands / nectaries 5, opposite the sepals, sessile, ellipsoidal with an apical depression, 0.3 - 0.5 × 0.3 - 0.4 mm, pale yellow; stamens 10 - 17, white, filaments 1.5 - 2.6 mm long, ciliate, anthers elliptic, 0.5 - 0.9 × 0.4 - 0.7 mm; receptacle pilose. Pistillate flowers with stellatelepidote (sometimes villous) buds 1 - 2 mm diam., pedicels 1 - 4 mm long; sepals 5, elliptic, spreading at anthesis, 2 - 9.5 × 0.5 - 2.5 mm, apex acute, abaxially and adaxially sparsely stellate-lepidote, pale green, persistent in fruit; petals absent / reduced; disc glands / nectaries 5, opposite the sepals, sessile, ellipsoidal, 0.4 - 0.7 × 0.3 - 0.5 mm, pale yellow; glandular filaments (petals?) alternating with the sepals, 0.7 - 2.0 mm long, ciliate; ovary densely stellate-pubescent (sometimes villous), subglobose, 1 - 2 mm diam., styles 3, 2.0 - 3.5 mm long, each branch flattened and twice (rarely thrice) bifurcate for a total of 12 stigmatic tips, spreading, recurved at the apices, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely stellate-pubescent, white, turning brown, persistent. Capsules c. 6 - 8 × 6 - 8 mm, smooth, brown, stellate-pubescent, exocarp not separating, endocarp woody, 0.2 - 0.4 mm thick; columella 4 - 5 mm long, cornute, capitate. Seeds ± compressed-ellipsoid, 3.5 - 4.3 × 2.7 - 3.1 mm; testa glossy, granulate, brown; caruncle narrowly reniform, c. 0.6 × 0.5 mm.